YouTube will soon enable creators to produce Shorts featuring their own artificial intelligence likenesses, CEO Neal Mohan announced Wednesday.
Mohan stated in his annual letter that creators will be able to make a Short using their likeness, develop games from text prompts, and experiment with music this year. He emphasized that AI will serve as a tool for expression, not a replacement for creators.
Shorts currently average 200 billion daily views, making them a significant medium for YouTube. The platform continues to invest in Shorts to maintain viewership. Additional details regarding these AI likenesses were not disclosed. This new feature will complement existing AI tools for Shorts, which include generative AI clips, AI stickers, and AI auto-dubbing.
Mohan also indicated that YouTube will provide creators with new tools to manage the use of their likeness in AI-generated content.
While creators will be permitted to use their own likeness, YouTube implemented technology in October to prevent unauthorized use by others. This likeness-detection technology, available to eligible creators, identifies AI-generated content depicting creators’ faces and voices. Creators can then request the removal of such content.
Mohan addressed the dissemination of AI-generated content, stating the company works to maintain a high-quality viewing experience. He noted that YouTube’s approach avoids imposing preconceived notions on the creator ecosystem, citing the mainstream success of previously niche trends like ASMR and gaming content. Mohan affirmed the responsibility to uphold viewing quality, adding, “To reduce the spread of low quality AI content, we’re actively building on our established systems that have been very successful in combatting spam and clickbait, and reducing the spread of low quality, repetitive content.”
YouTube plans to expand Shorts with new formats, including image posts.
